A Pirate's Life is Not for Spoiled Princes
by HermioneCrookshanks919
Summary: Set in pre-Merlin Camelot. Arthur, Morgana, and Gwen play a game of pirates, and to Arthur's shock the crown prince finds himself at the mercy of the two girls. Too bad his arrogance kicked their mercy right out the door. Very small hints of Arthur/Gwen.


**_This fic was written for the LJ community Camelot_Love's Spring Fling. Prompt 5: Arthur/Gwen/Morgana are playing pirates . . . so, who's going to be forced to walk the plank?_**

* * *

The morning before Gwen's first day as a handmaiden her father had warned her that her lady's word was law. "No matter what happens, obey the king's ward," her father had said before seeing her off. Gwen understood the logic behind this advice, but she wondered if her father would've instructed her otherwise had he been better acquainted with the Lady Morgana. Indeed, Gwen couldn't imagine that he'd be particularly thrilled if he discovered how his daughter was currently aiding her lady in a pirate attack on the crown prince of Camelot.

"Can't we just declare a truce?" Gwen asked, the sword in her hand – pointed at Prince Arthur – wobbling slightly from her anxiety.

"_Gwen_!" the older girl groaned. "What fun is a _truce_?"

Gwen chewed the inside of her cheek. To be fair, this was just the sort of game she played with the children in the town. She was almost positive, however, that she (not to mention the Lady Morgana) would not face a possible sentence of treason if they demanded that a villager plunge himself into a freezing lake.

"_Come on_, Gwen!" Morgana urged, stamping her foot slightly. "If you side with me then he has no choice but to surrender, and then he'll end up in the lake. It's the _rules_!" Morgana swiveled back around to raise her eyebrows at Arthur. Jumping into the lake as a form of walking the plank, after all, _had _been her foster brother's idea, who in his arrogance had assumed that he would end this game of pretend completely dry.

"I'm the _prince_!" Arthur cried, indignant, his own sword lying several feet away from him (having been cast away after an artful blow by Morgana). "You can't— "

"You're a _pirate_!" Morgana cut him off, taking another step closer. "Therefore we can do as we please. And even if you _were _still the prince _we're _pirates, and pirates don't care for royalty. So we'd _still _do as we please!" Her eyes glinted dangerously, as if daring him to raise another object.

"Milady, do you really think this is wise?" Gwen asked, all the while following in Morgana's footsteps.

"Listen to your handmaiden!" Arthur thundered (as much as a ten year old _could _thunder) before Morgana had a chance to reply, and then his expression of fury changed to one of triumph. Gwen frowned, not liking this one bit. She had only worked in the castle for a few months, but by now she knew Arthur well enough to recognize that an idea – quite possibly a dangerous and/or stupid one (and, knowing Arthur, it was probably both) – had just occurred to him. "In fact, if you're so keen on making someone walk the plank, accuse _her_," he scrunched up his nose and nodded in Gwen's direction, "of mutiny and make _her _do it."

Gwen's jaw dropped. She knew she wouldn't like his idea, but this…! And to top it all off on his face he was wearing a terribly smug smile (a look that had become increasingly familiar in her three months as Morgana's handmaiden). The _nerve _of him! After she had tried to force a truce and prevent Lady Morgana from throwing him into the lake…. True, she had mostly objected because she feared the punishment she and the Lady Morgana might face (now that her lady was finally settled in – even happy! – she didn't want to risk any sort of upset), but Gwen had also recognized that they had placed Arthur at quite a disadvantage. Not only had it been two against one (even if that _had _been Arthur's doing – "I'm not fighting with a little _girl_! _You _have her!"), but Arthur had only recently started training. He was a strong fighter for his age, and it was clear that in the years to come very few would rival his ability, but a few months of training were nothing compared to Lady Morgana's years. And although Gwen would never say so for fear of appearing too proud, as the daughter of a blacksmith she wasn't exactly useless with a sword. And then, of course, there was the mere fact that Morgana, at twelve, towered over her newly acquired foster brother. All in all, it had hardly been a fair battle.

Now, however…. Gwen turned back around to face her mistress, whose lips quirked into a slight smirk before she sweetly inquired, "Still interested in a truce?"

* * *

As the three made their way out of the castle, Gwen came to the conclusion that she was no longer interested in forcing Prince Arthur to "walk the plank."

No, after spending the past ten minutes listening to him mutter, "Just wait until my father…. How dare they...! I'm the _prince_, what do they think they're doing?" angrily under his breath Gwen wanted nothing more than to beat him with her tiny fists.

Somehow she didn't believe anyone – even the Lady Morgana – would appreciate such a turn of events, and Gwen certainly wasn't going to risk her employment all because of _this _prat. So, she supposed glumly, watching him sink into the watery depths of the lake would just have to do.

Somehow or another no one questioned the two girls' detainment of the prince. Gwen wasn't sure if this was due to lax attention by the guards or the sweet smile Morgana beamed in their direction as she held a struggling Arthur (which became increasingly difficult when she needed to smother his obnoxious protests with her hand). They passed through the castle gates and within a few minutes they had reached the banks of the lake.

"Finally!" Morgana exclaimed. She turned her body a bit so she could speak with Gwen. "Gwen, could you put that blanket down and help me with him? I have a feeling he's going to be even_more _trouble now that we're actually here."

"Of course!" Gwen dropped the quilt (which she had insisted on bringing for fear of what would happen if Arthur fell ill after this exploit) onto the ground and joined her lady, who had brought Arthur to the edge of the water.

"If you could just hold him as I issue his sentence?" Morgana asked. "Then I'll grab him again and have him jump off that log over there." Morgana nodded in the direction of a fallen tree, which lay only a few feet away from them. Gwen nodded, taking hold of the prince. The last of her anxieties over detaining _Prince _Arthur against his will disappeared when he shot her his most petulant of looks (which, as he tended to sport this facial expression as often as his smug smile, was saying something).

Morgana took her place in front of Arthur. Standing tall she called out to an imaginary crowd, "By the laws of Piracy, we sentence you, Arthur Pendragon, to walk the plank. Do you have any last words?"

"Yes, actually," Arthur answered, straightening himself up to his full height (which wasn't much). "You _do _realize that when my father hears what you've done to his _only heir_— "

Morgana had finally heard enough. "Oh, shut _up_!" she cried. Gwen, acting on instinct, let go of Arthur and jumped out of the way just as Morgana took a giant step forward and gave Arthur a firm push. Arthur, taken off guard, attempted to maintain his balance by grabbing hold of the nearest thing. Unfortunately for Gwen, this "thing," despite her attempt to move out of the way, happened to be her.

Gwen let out a small cry as she fell backwards into the lake, landing a few feet away from Arthur.

"Gwen! GWEN?" Gwen heard Morgana call anxiously. "Gwen, are you all right?"

Gwen sat up, sputtering water. She was a little bit in shock and also cold – oh, goodness, _very _cold –, and she had quite possibly ruined her favorite dress (if a girl with two dresses could claim to _have _a favorite), but otherwise she was all right. "I'm fine, milady," she called out, thankful that she hadn't hit her head on the rocks that lined the shallow parts of the lake. She stood up, water dripping from her, and turned to see how Arthur had fared. _Not that well_, Gwen mused at the sight of him. The prince was still sitting there, staring out into the distance, clearly still trying to process what had just happened.

Gwen, despite her weighed down skirts, walked over to him. "You all right?" Gwen asked, offering Arthur her hand. Arthur looked up at her slightly concerned face, down at her proffered hand, and then back up, as if deciding how best to react. Apparently he had concluded that "spoiled brat" was the way to go.

"Of course I'm not all right!" he cried, ignoring her hand and managing to get up on his own. "You two threw me into the water – no warning or anything!"

"Threw _you _into the water?" Gwen cried, aghast. "I stepped out of the way! _You _pulled me in!" But Arthur was already out of hearing range, having marched over to the quilt so he could wrap himself up in it. Shaking her head in disbelief, Gwen managed to make her way out of the lake and joined her mistress.

"I'm so sorry, Gwen!" Morgana cried. She made to hug the girl, but Gwen stopped her.

"You'll get wet and catch a chill!"

"Oh, who cares?" Morgana scoffed, but she heeded Gwen's warning, aware that if she _did _become ill then poor Gwen would have to tend to her.

"Oh, I'm perfectly all right!" Arthur called from a few feet away. "Thanks for asking. I wasn't just pushed into a _freezing cold lake_."

"I _did _ask!" Gwen wanted to yell, hardly believing this boy, but she knew better.

"Stop being a sore loser," Morgana shot at Arthur. She grabbed Gwen's hand and pulled her forward, heading in the direction of the castle.

"I am _not _being a sore loser!" Arthur protested, scrambling after them. "I was supposed to jump in _myself_. Instead you _pushed _me in! That's against … against … against the Camelot Code of Piracy!"

"There _is _no Camelot Code of Piracy!"

"I'm the prince, and I say there _is_!"

Morgana simply rolled her eyes and carried on. Arthur wasn't worth the trouble, especially if his only comeback was going to consist of "I'm the prince!" She'd settle for waiting until he was a few years older so she could at least _enjoy _their petty arguments. Instead of responding she glanced over at Gwen, who was shivering ever so slightly as the wind blew. It was only a small wind, but it was quite fierce when one was drenched to the core. "Are you all right?" Morgana asked, and then groaned at her stupidity. "Why didn't I bring my cape? You could've used it to stop from freezing!"

Gwen laughed, slightly in amazement, at her lady's kindness. "You didn't know I would end up in the lake! Anyway, I'm not going to freeze. It's just a little cold."

"True, but still…."

Before Gwen could respond she felt something heavy – and somewhat wet – land on her shoulders. Looking down she saw, to her great shock, that the quilt Arthur had been using was now on her. "Sire!" she exclaimed, looking up, aghast. "You mustn't … you'll catch cold!"

"I'm fine," Arthur said stubbornly, continuing on. "You're the one shivering like a … like … well, like someone who's cold," he finished. Morgana snorted.

"But if you get sick…."

"I said I'm _fine_!" Arthur insisted. "Just use it!"

"But— "

He ran in front of Gwen and came to a halt, stopping the girl in her tracks. "As Prince of Camelot I am _ordering _you to wear it," he commanded. It was quite possibly the ninety-fifth time that day that Arthur had used his title in an attempt to get his way. Unlike the other times, however, it worked. For also unlike the other times she had seen _something _– however fleeting – in the prince's eyes. This something she could not name, but it had pleasantly surprised her.

Years later, the same _something _that had moved Gwen so would reappear in the prince's eyes as he apologized to the irate maiden for taking advantage of a town's kindness, and Gwen would finally understand what she had seen all those years ago: humility.

"Of course, sire," she finally acquiesced. Pleased, Arthur reached up and adjusted the quilt, his eyes narrowing in concentration as he tried to make sure Gwen was covered to his satisfaction. Gwen stood there in shock as the usually self-absorbed prince cared for _her_, a lowly servant. Morgana, too, was so surprised by Arthur's actions that all she could do was gape at her almost brother.

"There," Arthur proclaimed once he had finished, and he turned around and continued on as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. After a few steps he called over his shoulder, warning the girls, "If I get sick I'm making sure everyone knows it's your fault!"

Gwen and Morgana groaned. Of course it was too much to hope that Arthur would manage to not be a prat for more than two minutes. No, it would be many years before Gwen would understand the nuances of Arthur Pendragon. For now she would continue inwardly rolling her eyes at the prince's behavior and giggling with the Lady Morgana over his momentary downfall. After all, she was only just nearing ten. A spoiled boy was simply spoiled and that was that.

That is, when he wasn't doubling as a drowning pirate.


End file.
